New direction

Aberdeen Central's change of pick-up, dropoff area beneficial

October 11, 2010

Students exit the southwest side of Aberdeen Central High School as people in vehicles waiting to take them home sit in the parking lot. Administrators at the high school this year have redirected student pick-up parking to the west side of the building leaving the east side parking lot, on the front of the building, for students who drive themselves to school. By dividing the traffic flow there is less congestion when the class day ends. American News Photo by John Davis

Central High School's new designated student dropoff/pick-up area has parents talking. "There's a lot less congestion, it seems, and it doesn't take 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot," said Sheila Roberson, a mother of a sophomore at Central. "I think it was a great move." In previous years, the area just in front of the school's main entrance, on the east side, was used for student dropoff/pick-up. At the start of this school year, parents were asked to use the parking lot behind the school or the west parking lot. Mark Murphy, Central's assistant principal, and Jeff Carlson, resource officer, said the change has made an immediate impact. "The new student dropoff/pick-up area has cut the time the parking lot takes to clear in half," Murphy said. "Before, it was taking about 25-30 minutes to clear the lot. Cutting that in half is a big improvement." Carlson added that the school basically divided the traffic flow, which was part of the problem. "One of the problems was that all students were using the main entrance, nondrivers and students who drive," Carlson said. "The parents picking up or dropping off their kids were crossing paths with students that drove. That's slowed things quite a bit." Before the congestion issue, Murphy and Carlson said they looked into several options to combat the problem, including releasing students at different intervals. Adding a traffic light to Melgaard Road at the school entrance was also discussed. "Asking parents to use the west lot just made the most sense for right now," Murphy said. Parents Janice Kolbs and Melyssa Archer said they're glad administrators chose to look at the issue and do something about it. "I believe it's a good decision on their part," Kolbs added. "Many parents, like myself, have to leave work early to pickup their child. Using the west parking lot has helped me get back to work quicker." Archer said her anxiety levels, while picking up her daughter, has reduced dramatically since the change. "I just feel a little more at ease while I'm on school grounds now," Archer said. As for further plans to improve the school's traffic congestion, administrators said they'll continue to monitor the traffic and look at more ways to be efficient. Reporter Kevin Bennett